Halgrath – Liquid Mind Review @ Elitarian Music Webzine

First release for Ambientaria Records, a fairly new netlabel entirely dedicated to delve deep into the abysses of Dark Ambient soundscapes. Established in 2006, Halgrath is a Russian project that came highly recommended to me when I was contacted by Ambientaria Records’ owner about a month ago, but, as much as I usually try to be as fast as possible in the dispatch of my ‘to-review’ pile, I decided to do this album justice and to allow myself some time to grow into Agratha (yes, this is a one-woman project)’s intimidating and demanding aural hypnotism.

Now, after so much time, I am glad I’ve been waiting for the right moment to experience this album. Agratha’s avowed aim is to disclose the spirituality of the Universe to the listener, by channelling its energies onto a sonic language that speaks directly to our soul’s infinite search of awareness. Her aim is accomplished over Liquid Mind’s fluid and austere one hour expanse of dark, resonating Ambient mysticism that proceeds towards the very core of one’s soul eluding all the empirically conditioned vestiges. Agratha’s voice surfaces from the ethereal layers of the sound with impassioned spoken lines, haunting whispers and laments, and dramatic, nearly operatic trillings, at times diluted in the menacing echoes of a masculine counterpart, thus almost evoking a wonderful archetypical representation of cosmic duality. Needless to say, the ten songs on Liquid Mind are meant to be experienced all at the same time, possibly in a congruous frame of mind, and would surely fail their aim should they be heard out of sequence.

There’s no doubt that such a release might not appeal to everyone, but for those who are deeply connected with what is described as the purpose of this album, I’d almost say that the listening is mandatory. Liquid Mind can be downloaded for free from Ambientaria Records’ site [ https://ambientariarecords.wordpress.com ]. As for me, I hope there’s a second act being planned for this intriguing female solo artist. Not the easiest of listens, but for sure an extremely rewarding one.